A Time to Mourn
by HAFanForever
Summary: Feeling it's long overdue, Elsa decides to visit her parents' graves for the first time and asks Anna to accompany her to give her the strength and courage she needs for this.


Elsa stared out of the window from her bedroom. Instead of looking down into the village square like she usually did, however, Elsa was looking out towards the small hills, which was part of the land where her parents' graves were located.

It had been over a month since she had thawed Arendelle, and things were going well for her first month as the queen. But she felt that things between her and Anna were going better than ever. Although Elsa had to do her duties as queen, she always made sure that she saw Anna enough every single day. She also tried to do as much work one day so that the next day, she had less to do in order to spend time with Anna.

Today was another day of Elsa having little to do for her queenly duties. It was morning now and so she was about to go have breakfast. But she was thinking about what she wanted to do with Anna. It was something that wouldn't be fun, but Elsa felt she had to do it now.

Elsa wanted to visit her parents' graves and pay her respects to them now since she never did at their funeral.

As Elsa felt her magic was still unstable when she was eighteen, she did not go to the funeral with Anna, fearing that her grief would only unleash her magic in a dangerous way. Now that Elsa's secret was out, she knew that Anna, being the understanding person that she was, knew why she didn't attend and why she had been shut out for so many years. Both sisters worked very hard to repair their relationship since Elsa's secret was revealed, and Elsa thought it was the right time now to do what she felt she needed to do a long time ago. For courage, strength, and to avoid loneliness, she wanted Anna to accompany her.

Elsa decided to ask Anna before breakfast, just so she could get it over with. She felt a little nervous, thinking that her request sounded ridiculous to ask of Anna. But because Anna loved her so much, Elsa felt that Anna would not let her down.

Elsa walked out of her room and headed down the hall to Anna's room. Although she thought that Anna was not awake yet, she decided to try so that she ask Anna alone and before they were eventually crowded by people in the castle.

As soon as she reached Anna's door, Elsa raised her hand to knock, then hesitated momentarily. _Poor Anna. After knocking on my door for thirteen years and I never opened it to play with her, this separation was just as hard for her as it was for me. I just hope she won't shut me out whenever I knock on her door_.

Elsa finally got up her courage and exhaled deeply as she loudly knocked on Anna's door four times. She couldn't hear any movement after the fourth knock, so she said slightly loudly, but kindly, "Anna? Are you awake? It's me, Elsa." The last few words reminded her of when Anna said almost the exact same words after stepping into Elsa's ice palace in the North Mountain.

Then she listened closely and heard what she thought sounded like footsteps. She began to smile when the doorknob started to turn, then it opened widely.

"Elsa!" Anna exclaimed and threw her arms around her sister, clearly showing how happy she was that Elsa had come to her room.

Elsa smiled back and returned Anna's hug, and she also giggled quietly upon noticing her sister's hair all a mess from sleeping.

"Good morning," Anna said after she ended her and Elsa's hug.

"Good morning to you," Elsa responded politely.

Anna was curious about why Elsa herself had woken her (Anna) up, so she asked, "Is something wrong, Elsa? Usually Kai or Gerda wake us up in the mornings, so I wondered why you did it on your own."

"No, Anna, nothing's wrong," Elsa answered, but decided to tell the truth before Anna thought she was lying. "But I do want to talk to you, alone. I want to ask you to do something for me…today."

"Of course, Elsa, I'll do anything you want me to do."

The sisters stepped further into Anna's room, then closed the door. Elsa took a deep breath and exhaled. "Anna…I want to visit Mama and Papa's graves…and I want you to accompany me. Just we two. Please?"

Anna was a little bit surprised and unprepared for what Elsa just requested of her, but she shook it off and looked at Elsa's face, realizing why Elsa had asked her in the first place. Finally, she said, "Don't worry, Elsa, I'll be with you. You know I'm here for you."

Anna only smiled at Elsa, and Elsa felt tears sting at her eyes, hoping that they wouldn't fall. Trying to keep her voice from shaking, she quietly said, "Thank you, Anna," then she grabbed Anna and hugged her tightly. Anna was only too happy to return the tightness of Elsa's hug.

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><p>An hour and a half later, Anna and Elsa had finished their breakfasts, rode their horses up to the hill to the graves, and were finally there. The two stopped their horses at a good distance, then climbed off of them and signaled for them to stay put. Once she stepped down from her horse, Elsa pulled out a basket that held two bouquets of flowers, which she wanted to place at the foot of the graves.<p>

Carrying the basket in her hands, Elsa hesitated and felt afraid at approaching the graves as she looked at them, but she knew that as long as Anna was with her, she had someone who would give her love and comfort so she didn't have to feel scared. She then began to walk towards them, with Anna walking a small distance behind her. Upon reaching the gravestones, which she noticed were much bigger than her and Anna, she read the inscription of the one on her left and realized this one belonged to her father. Elsa sighed deeply as she kneeled down between both stones so she could feel like she was speaking to both of her parents.

"Hello, Mama and Papa, it's me, Elsa." Trying to hold her tears back, she continued, "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I didn't keep my powers in control all those years. I'm sorry that I wouldn't let you touch me because I was afraid of hurting you. I wish I could have given you one last hug the day you left for your trip. I'm Queen of Arendelle now, and I only want to follow in your footsteps and be as good of a ruler as you two were. Separating Anna and myself all those years may have kept us safe, but we missed each other so much after you were gone because we needed to comfort each other, but I felt I was too dangerous to be around Anna anymore."

Elsa paused momentarily to wipe the tears that were beginning to fall from her eyes and down her cheeks. "Well, my secret was finally revealed at my coronation, and for a time I put Arendelle in an eternal winter. But it was all thanks to Anna that I learned love is the key to controlling my powers. Now I have learned that love is truly stronger than fear, and Anna and I have been working very hard to mend our relationship while the people of Arendelle have accepted me as their queen. They love what I can do with my magic, especially in the summertime." Elsa let out a small laugh as she wiped another tear from her eye. "So Anna and I are happy once more, and I am working my hardest on ruling Arendelle as the queen. But I never got to say goodbye to you like Anna had done at your funeral. I just thought now was the right time to do it. I wanted to make you proud when I was a girl, and I hope I can continue to do that now."

Anna had been standing close behind Elsa the entire time she had been talking and heard every word that her sister had said. She had also been crying, and although she got stuffed up a couple of times from her tears, she tried to be quiet so she wouldn't disturb Elsa during her monologue.

Elsa finally stood up from where she has been kneeling, then walked over to each tombstone to place down each flower bouquet. After she did that, Elsa blew a kiss to the tombstones. "I love you, Mama and Papa. May you both rest in peace." She was initially worried that blowing a kiss would cause ice to emit from her hands, but when it didn't, she decided that focusing on her love for her parents and sisters prevented her from releasing any danger of her magic.

Elsa turned around and walked over to Anna, who was still standing close behind her. Once they were in close physical proximity, Anna smiled at Elsa. "That was a very brave thing you did, Elsa. I know Mama and Papa would be proud of you for everything."

"I know, Anna. And I'm just so sorry to you. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when they passed. I wanted to comfort you and receive your comfort more than anything…but I was just so afraid. Since we had lost Mama and Papa, I couldn't risk losing you, too."

"That doesn't matter now, Elsa. You're here now, and that's all that matters to me." Anna tried to fight back new tears forming in her eyes, but she was having more trouble now. "Elsa?" she asked as something just occurred to her.

"Yes?" Elsa answered, now having trouble holding back more tears in _her_ eyes.

"Is it…okay to cry?" Anna asked as her voice started breaking. As Anna tried to stifle a sob, Elsa was doing just the same when she finally responded, "Yes, it is, Anna."

Both sisters then embraced each other and cried together, letting their tears of sadness for their parents fall from their eyes and didn't bother to wipe them away. Although it hurt to have come because they had felt that there was a chance that they would cry together, they also felt relieved that they were finally grieving together and comforting each other the way they should have done three years ago. While they were still each other's only family, they would only continue to mend things between them and not let the pains of their pasts keep them from moving forward.

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><p><strong>So what did you all think? I have thought of a couple of ideas that could take place after the film with these two as well as with Anna and Kristoff. However, I felt that something like visiting her parents' graves was something that Elsa would have done, especially now since things are improving between her and Anna. And given that Anna is very fearless and optimistic, only she could encourage Elsa to do this and help her to not be so afraid.<strong>

**I'm setting all stories I write in the same universe, so this one takes places after "I'll Always Be Here for You," but before "A Royal Engagement." I was planning to write the next story as a follow-up to the latter, but since this idea just came to me, I decided to go ahead and do it very quickly.**

**Once again, this is NOT an Elsanna story! You will NEVER see me write anything like that on here!**

**Hope you enjoyed this, and keep your eyes out for my future works! :D**


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